1. Queen’s University Public Health Informatics (QPHI) Team www.quesst.ca Can Occupational Health data contribute to Public Health? Tara Donovan Institute of Population and Public Health’s Research Day January 28 th, 2008

2. Innovative, Integrated, Syndromic Surveillance System  purpose: Develop an automated, integrated, syndromic surveillance system  Method: Use routinely collected electronic Occupational Health visit data in addition to Emergency Department visits data  objective: Monitor respiratory and gastrointestinal illness activity both within the community (ED) and hospital (OH)

3. OH Reporting Legislation/ Recommendations  SARS Commission Final Report (Campbell)  Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic  Recommendations for Infection Control/ Surveillance MOHLTC (Task Force)  Enteric Disease Surveillance Protocol for Ontario Hospitals (OHA & OMA – CD protocols)

4. How does OH surveillance contribute to Public Health?  Automatic, concise details of OH visit activity for surveillance of unusual health events or disease outbreaks  Monitoring of multiple data sources  Enhances communication and collaboration with appropriate health care professionals and stakeholders  Early Warning to facilitate public health response (eg. increased Infection Control, implementation of emergency plans)  Awareness of absenteeism